Agreed. It seems that spasticity occurs with either flexors or
extensors, while Parkinsonian rigidity involves excess tone in both
flexors and extensors resulting from the basal ganglia lesion. While
DOPA or a dopamine agonist corrects this inbalance in the striatum,
baclofen reduces tone by GABA receptors in the spinal grey. While
baclofen would reduce tone in a Parkinsonian patient, there would still
be antagonistic tone in both flexors and extensors.
Renato Cocchi wrote:
> > From: Marcello Spinella <optimism32 at hotmail.com>
> > Organization: EarthLink Network, Inc.
> > Subject: Parkinson's disease and rigidity
> >
>> > If Parkinson's disease involves rigidity, why isn't baclofen
> > effective to treat it?
>> Perhaps because Parkinson's rigidity is a dopamine-related
> symptom and baclofen is a B-GABAergic agonist.
> The fact that baclofen is an antispastic is insignificant:
> What seems the same symptom can be produced by different
> breakdowns (eg. haemophilia).
>> Renato Cocchi MD